Never Be Boring
by beatlechicksteph
Summary: Hermione catches up with her adoptive father, post-Endgame. Continuation of the story begun in Time and Space. To be read after ...And Then He Snapped.


**For my MMFBingo19 Square G3: Post-Endgame**

**Continuation of the story begun in Time and Space. To be read after ...And Then He Snapped.**

Hermione sat on the porch of her new home. It was going to take some time getting used to living in this new place, out in the country. She was going to miss Avenger's headquarters, even though she was only living there part time any way as she attended school. And she was trying to wrap her head around the time jump.

While five years was not as significant as the nearly twenty she had jumped when she was hit with Dolohov's curse in the time room, it was still significant. And after talking it over with Pepper, she decided she didn't want to go back to Ilvermorny. With everything that had happened, and after adjusting to life once, she just didn't want to go away. She did some research in the days following the battle with Thanos, and she learned she could finish her schooling independently, and Pepper supported her decision. She figured it was just her adoptive mother's need to have Hermione close after thinking her lost forever for five years that made her agreeable, and Hermione felt bad taking advantage of that. But she just wanted to be home.

"Mione," a small voice came from the door to the house.

She turned around and saw her little sister, Morgan, standing there. That was another reason for her decision to not go to boarding school and repeat the year she had started before she had been snapped away. Getting to know her sister was a huge priority. Trying to explain to her what the hell was going on was easier than she thought it would be, but I guess when your dad is Iron Man, everything is pretty easy to believe.

"Yes, Morgan?"

"Dad, is asking for you."

Hermione smiled to herself and stood from the porch swing to walk into the house. As she moved toward the master bedroom, she thought back to the battle just a few weeks before, and held back tears thinking about how she had almost lost Tony that day.

_She watched in horror as Tony put his makeshift gauntlet on his hand. She started sprinting toward him when she realized what he was going to do. She didn't know a whole lot of what was going on, but she knew him wearing the gauntlet meant he was going to sacrifice himself. She was just a couple feet from him when he looked up at her and gave her a small smile while he snapped his fingers._

_She stopped short as a blinding light filled her vision, but as soon as she could see again, she made her way the rest of the distance to her adoptive father, falling at his side._

_In the back of her mind she registered that the fighting around her had stopped, but she didn't concern herself with that. She focused on Tony, who was barely hanging onto life._

"_Hey, kid," he managed through heavy breathing. "Welcome home."_

_Hermione couldn't hold back her tears anymore. "What did you do?"_

"_Saved the world, worked, didn't it?" Tony said, signature smirk trying to make it look like he wasn't in as much pain as he was._

"_You're a bloody idiot," Hermione said through the tears, "What were you thinking?!"_

"_That my daughter is a witch, and maybe she would be able to fix this," he said with a wink._

_Hermione sat up straighter, and immediately sent an urgent patronis to the ministry before turning her wand back on Tony and casting a stasis charm over his body. She barely registered Pepper and Peter making their way over to them. All she did was watch for someone to come and help her father._

_Instantly, wizards began apparating into the battlefield and making their way to where they were, and then, only then, did she let herself relax._

Hermione knocked on Tony's door and let herself into Tony's room. She looked at him sitting up in the bed, looking healthier than ever. The healers really knew what they were doing. She didn't know exactly what they did to save him, but they managed to save him. They told her usually they don't work on Muggles, but they were told by the ministry to do whatever they could to save Iron Man. So they did.

"Hey, kid," Tony said.

"Hi, Tony," Hermione said, smiling as she shut the door behind her. "Morgan said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, come sit with me," he said, patting the bed next to him.

Hermione made her way over and settled herself on the bed next to him. He put his arm around her and pulled her close.

"What's this I hear about you not wanting to go back to school?" he asked, once they were settled.

Hermione sighed. "Well, they're going to make me start over, even though I had already completed part of the year before the snap. All my new friends have graduated and moved on because it's been five years, so I'll have to start over…again. And," she paused swallowing the lump forming in her throat. "I don't want to leave you. I almost lost you, and I just can't stand the thought of leaving and not being here for most of the year. I talked to Pepper and she said it was okay, that we would figure out a way for me to learn what I need to here. Maybe take my exams early."

"Hey," Tony said, cutting her off. "I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise. I actually am glad that you came to this decision."

"Really?" Hermione said, looking up at Tony.

"Yeah," he said. "I mean, I thought I had lost you forever, and I had to live with that feeling for five years. Five. Years. And I honestly didn't expect to survive that final battle with Thanos. So, now that we're both back, and we're both under this roof, the thought of," he paused, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat and tried again. "The thought of you leaving to go live at school for ninety percent of the time, it gives me this panicky feeling in my chest," Tony said. "You were away at school when Thanos invaded the first time, and then you disappeared. I want all my kids here with me under my roof where I can keep an eye on them, at least for a litle while, does that make sense?"

Hermione nodded. "Perfect sense," she said, resting her head on his shoulder. "Does that mean you'll be moving Peter in?" she asked, with a smile, knowing the answer.

"Hell, no," he said. "Peter can visit, and he can stay weekends, but you two will always be in common areas together and F.R.I.D.A.Y. will have eyes everywhere. Everywhere."

Hermione laughed, "We'll behave ourselves, I promise."

"You better. I know the two of you have been separated for five years, but control your teenage hormones."

"That's the thing, I know we were gone for five years, but it felt like no time had passed for at all."

"Good," Tony said. "It makes me feel better hearing that. Because the five years here were hell."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't you dare apologize, I should be the one apologizing to you. I failed to take down Thanos and I doomed the world, and I was punished by losing my kid."

"Not your fault," Hermione said. "And no one blames you. Especially after you did the idiotic thing and tried to sacrifice yourself to save the world."

Tony smiled, "What can I say, I like being the hero."

"Are you going to stay retired from the hero business? Pepper said you quit being Iron Man after the snap."

"Yes," Tony said, with no hesitation. "I'm done. I have Morgan and you to think about, and I want to watch you both grow up and thrive. And I know that you're almost done growing up, but I just don't want to bring danger to our doorstep anymore. And I just want to go back to running my company and being a boring business man."

"You'll never be boring," Hermione said. "I know that, and I've only lived with you for the equivalent of about a year at this point."

"You're right," Tony said, "I'm too awesome to be boring."

Hermione laughed. She grew quiet after that and enjoyed just sitting with Tony.

"I love you, Dad," she said after a while, quietly.

She felt Tony stiffen. It was the first time she had ever called him dad.

When Tony spoke, his voice was thick with emotion. "I love you, too, kid. I love you, too."


End file.
